a top journal, Energy Policy. By the end of 2011, the results of Gadgil’s analysis were saving 100 million poor customers in
42 developing countries over $5 billion per year in lighting costs. A recent study on the efficacy of micro-nutrient powders
(MNP) in reducing anemia in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Kenya documents evidence of partial effectiveness while highlighting low
adoption rates among target populations, and offering some possible explanations for this failure. The Berkeley Initiative for
Transparency in the Social Sciences (BITSS) makes tools and resources for promoting research transparency accessible to faculty
and students in a range of disciplines.
DIL puts failure and transparency at the forefront of its iterative design approach. By fostering close inter-disciplinary
collaboration and promoting data-sharing and research transparency at all stages of the innovation pipeline, DIL aims to shorten
feedback loops and help normalize open discussion about failure.
This post was originally published on the CEGA Blog as “The Role
of Failure in Promoting Transparency,” the last in a ten-part series
on research transparency organized by the Berkeley Initiative for
Transparency in the Social Sciences (BITSS).
How DIL supported classes are educating innovators working to solve critical
development issues.
By Jessica Clayton
DIL Graduate Student Researcher
The heydays of hour-long lectures in front of classroom whiteboards are fading fast. Preparing students to tackle 21st century
social challenges also necessitates in-depth and hands-on engagement with complex, open-ended problems. To train the next
generation of global problem solvers, the Blum Center for Developing Economies supports two novel courses which bring social
innovation into the classroom and combine the Bay Area’s entrepreneurship expertise with UC Berkeley’s social sector engagement.
1) Collaborative Design for Public Health Goals
With support from the Blum Center, Dr. Nap Hosang and Dr. Jaspal Sandhu teach “Designing Innovative Health Solutions,”
a practical, project-based class where students learn strategies for collaborative design of innovative public health solutions.
Dr. Sandhu explains, “While innovation is happening in public health, it is random and unpredictable. We have a duty to
do great work. Consistently. How do we make innovation happen predictably? We use a deliberate process. That’s what our
course is about: teaching students how to apply the innovation process to their work to maximize the likelihood of better
solutions.” For students in the class, this means working in teams to develop novel solutions for NGOs and social enterprises
that seek out the course for assistance on specific challenges. To inform their innovation consulting projects, the student
teams rely on lectures and mentorship from top innovators in the field, including Karen Pak-Oppenheimer, Vice President
of World Health Partners and Dr. Krista Donaldson, the CEO of the well-known development engineering company, D-Rev.
The course emphasizes the importance that diverse, interdisciplinary perspectives play in finding effective new
solutions to complex challenges. Indeed, while the class is based in the Department of Public Health, last
year’s students came from 11 graduate programs ranging from City Planning to Electrical Engineering. The
students included former Peace Corp Volunteers, a former ABC health reporter, and consultant managers.